Honing mechanism



Oct. 13, 1959 c. J. ENNIS 2,908,115

HONING MECHANISM Filed Sept. 25, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 \NVENTOR are/we 1:12:19

HIS ATTORNEY Oct. 13, 1959 c. J. ENNIS HONING MECHANISM Filed Sept. 25, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 2m Y of T .HN NJVQQ 8M 0 T vmMT NW il m w;

2,908,115 Patented Oct. 13,

1 908 HQNING MECHANISM Clarence J; Ennis, Plantsville, Conn, assignor to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Application September 25, 1951, Serial No. 686,144 14'Claims. (c1;- 51-58) Thisinventionrelates'to honing'and particularly to the precision finishing of "the annular raceways for antifriction bearings."

I It has beencommon practice for suppor'ting rolling elementsin various machines to provide roller and/or ball gbearings which have their annulaYraceWays and their rollingelenients carefully "ground within "very close limits of accuracy'jto support various members for a'mtifrictional h raceways in the race y'th'ese ro ingieleinentsfiHence I'tliep'r'oblem-ofi'provid ateantifraction'bear- -resides tola great 'xte'n i oducing'raceways to mo e ,ac'cufiaefan 'sm t r conto rs- 'In the "a raceway suehias her way in the, out r v f. a'ballfbe ina' theniultinlicityfof a ially prciecririgr abrasiveiteeih in in inding whe lr duc even the mos re ,ate y mund raceway aov grindingfptte'rnjde' "Also; the stress s andstr n Set 1 swheel, siiihdldandbther machine parts dur ng such a'grind ngope at on; pro uc minu e intating grinding-wheel-and the groundiand lappe t a :much

.iupo'ntthe relative movemen Iac'uracies ofg'riiidingcontour which dettimentally affect Tithe accu yofIoperationjof'theihearingund r ond tions of lgh speed rotation and the exacting demands a fhoning machine and a lionin'gfmethod which W111 "{anniila'r"lraceway; I 5 V r s It is a further object of my invention'to provide an irrrproved raeeway honingmachine which corrects the ,gprove thefcontourfand 'surfaceiinish of a precisely ground --inaccuracies-of.-a prioragrtinding-roperation and which rennovesdhegrindingg pattern; produced the ,raceWaY during;this:p 'or'grinding-operation; v

rgIti-is .a ifurther object of m-y iinventionitmp'rovide an :aimproved hOning-Lrnachine and method V wherein a' preqt mpr v e e lr p ufld Ii'vices andjinethq'ds of character, this invention con- .'Isists in the yariousmatters hereinafter described and c imedli' ln'its hroaderaspects, the inventionis not lation within the raceway and arcuately oscillated j plane of raceway rotation, the center of this oscillation 2 illustrative purposes in the accompanying drawings wherein Figure 1 is a perspective view of'my honing device with 'certain parts broken away to show their-operative relation duringa honing operation.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary front end view of t-he'invention; I

Figure 3 is a fragmentary end view showing my honing mechanism in operative position against abearing raceway;

Figure 4 is a diametrical fragmentary'section taken along the line 44 of Figure 3 and I Figure 5 is a fragmentaryperspective showingof another embodiment of my honing mechanism.

My honing device is illustrated as performing a'precision honing operation upon the transversely curved raceway 10 of an outer'race ring 1 2 of a ball-bearing. However, it should be appreciated that other surfaces of the revolution may be accuratel'y'honed by my invention and in the same general manner. i

Generally considered, the outer race ring-12 is rotated about its axis ina fixed position'while a preformed' honing stone 14 is yieldably pressed endwise into fitting rethe being preferably slightly offset from a horizontal-"diameter of the racering. The race ring lg is" suitably supported and'rotated about its axis 12a. For convenience,

this ring'is shown supported on spaced 'shoesfBh "on'a member 13.

A bed 16, fastened to a base 18, has angularly i Y posed ways 20 and"22 whichslidably receivefadepend- 'ingfdove-tailed portion '24 on a carriage 25, to permit rectilinearfeeding movement of the'carriage towards and from the support 13. A gib 26"secured to theabedhat one sideof the dovetailed portion, limits the carriage to 'a movement parallel to the axis of rotation oftheirace ring' l2 in the support 13,. A cylinder 28, secured to a bracket 30 on the bed, slid'ably receives a piston 3; con- ;necte'dto a piston rod 33 fastenedto'thecarriage. Fluid 'as air under controlled pressurel is selectively directed from a suitable reversing 'va1ve( not shown) ,lthrongh pipes 35and 36 at each side of the piston to control the -longitudinal shifting of the carriageftoadvance and retractthehoning, stone 14. As is common in reversing va v n h p p s o 36- l be s lectively Qng t arre du t and hbihfl w ll e connecte to an exhaust duct and throttling valves'35a an'dBtiaf will serve to i t y on r l the speed of advance and traction of the, carriage 25; An adjustable stop screw-37 in abracket 38 secured to the bedl 6l imitsthe'forward position of carriage 25. to locate the honing stoneld in the plane of theraceway during honing. A second carg 40 dab suppo t don hefla uppe a o the carriage 25 has a depending dove-tailed portion 44 slidt'ably receivedwithin opposing waysllfiand 48 which limit the carriage 40 to a longitudinal transverse movement atri ght angles to the .aXis of therace ring 12 A cylinder 52 has a rearward projection54 secured a 'by a pin within the bifurcated portion of a boss 58 fastened tov and projectingupwardly from thetcarri'age 25. A piston rod 60 adjustably secured to the carriage 40, slidably extends through ,the forward end of the cylinder 52 and is secured at its rearward end to a piston 62 slidable within the cylinder. Fluid under controlled-pressure from a suitable source, is directed from'a'pipe-64 into a reversing valve 65. An operating means, as a hand lever 66, may be shifted to selectively position a yane -t67 in this valve to a full line or tea dottedline indicated position'to direct fluid under pressure through emai i g a dvance vorfthe honing stone l tw en ra ly radially towards a honing position or through a pipe 69 causing a retraction of the hone. Fluid is exhausted from the valve through a pipe 70. Throttle valves 68A and 69A adjustably controlthe flow of fluid from the cylinder 52 to regulate the feeding movement of thef-honing stone into andout of operating position. The throttle valve 69A is preferably adjusted to control the fluid exhaust from the forward end of the cylinder 52 at such a slow rate thatthe honing stone '14 will be held against the raceway with a uniform and predetermined pr msure as the honingstone'gradually wears away. The fluid fed through thereversing valve is preferably-air in which event the honing stone is held in position against the racewaytunder a predetermined yieldable pressure.

Pipes 72 and 73 respectively connect with the pipe 69 at opposite sides of the throttle valve 69A and communicate with the interior, of a cylinder 74 in a bypass valve 75. A piston 76 slidable in this cylinder, is secured to a piston rod 77 slidably extending through the front end wall of the cylinder and engageable with an arm 78 which is fixed to and extends upwardly from the carriage 40. A coiled spring 80 within the cylinder 74 resiliently'urges the piston 76 towards the left to a final position wherein the piston closes the inner ends of both pipes 72 and 73 preventing a bypass of fluid around the throttle valve 69A. The extreme left hand position of this piston is limited by the engagement of a sleeve member about the piston rod abutting the front end cylinder wall. I

When the carriage, 40 is Withdrawn to locate the honing stone'remote fromits operative position, thearm 78 in engagement with the piston rod 77 locates the piston 76 in a dot-indicated position wherein fluid can bypass the throttle valve 69A through the pipes 73 and 72 and through the forward end of the cylinder 74. At this timefluid under pressure entering the rearward end of the'cylinder 52 urges the carriage 40 forwardly andthe honing stone 14 rapidly approaches an operative position since there is a free flow of exhaust fluid around the valve 69A and into the exhaust pipe 70.

When the advance'of the carriage 40 locates the honing stone 14 close to but still out of operative engagement with the raceway 10, the spring urged advancing piston 76 under control of the arm 78 closes off the inner ends of both pipes'72 and 73 resulting in further exhaust from the forward end of the cylinder 52 only through the throttle valve 69A thereby causing the honing stone to very slowly move the short remaining distance into operative raceway engaging position after which it is yieldably held against'the work under control of the fluid pressure entering and exhausting from the cylinder 52.

from operative position and then retract at a fast rhaxi- H When the reversing valve is shifted to a reversed position, as indicatedby the dash line positionof the vane mum rate as the piston 76 uncovers the ends of the pipes 72 and 73 allowing full line pressure to bypass through these pipes and into the forward ends of the cylinder. The rate of retraction of the honing stone and carriage from operative position may be controlled by' a throttle valve 68A which is now connected in the exhaust circuit.

A' pair of spaced bearing blocks 88 and 90, secured to the upper part of the carriage 40 are coaxially bored to closely but rotatably receive a rock shaft 92 terminatand slidably receives the generally rectangular-shaped ing at its outer end in a honing head 94. A rectangular V shaped slot 96 extends laterally through the honinghead' foot 112 suitably secured as byscre'ws within astepped portion of the block 105. A rearward foot' 115 of the agitator rests upon a cushion member as a felt pad '117 supported ,on the. upper endof an upwardly projecting boss 118. A coiled spring seatedat its lower end upon the upper face of the carriage 40, extends upwardly into a counterbore 122 in the forward end of the agitator block 105. An adjustment screw 124 threaded through the block 105 and secured in preadjusted position by a lock nut, extends into'the counterbore 122 and engages at its lower end against a circular plate 126 slidable within the counterbore 122 and resting on the top of the coiled spring 120. The agitator 110 contains an annular generally t orus-shaped raceway 130 in which a ball 132 is free to roll with a gyratory motion as indicated. Fluid; as air under pressure, is directed into this racewaythrough a generallytang ential passage 133, and

escapesthrough a passage 134. By regulating the air pressure through the passage 133, the 'igyrating imparts a controlled periodic rocking pulse to the pivotally mounted agitator block 105. Tightening of the screw 124-compresses the spring 120 and the agitator block 105 clockwise as shown in Figure 2 to compress the foot.115 against the yieldable felt pad 117 so that the gyratory movement of the ball 132 in its track W111 effect an "arcuate rocking movement of the shaft 92 through a predetermined extent.

i The axis 92a of the shaftj92 is' preferably located above the transverse diameter of the race ring 12 and displaced laterally fromfthe race rin axis 12a during a honing operation as best illustratedin Figure 3. With this arrangement, the rounded no sejof the honing stone 14 which conforms in transverse and generally circumferentially curvature to that of the raceway against which it fits, will be urged by the spring 120 generally arcuately upwardly into closely fitting raceway engagement; The rapid arcuate oscillation transmitted to this honing stone through the shaft 92, from the agitator block 105 will be in a direction back and forth circumferentially of' the raceway thus slightly relieving. the fitting engagement of the stone-against the raceway 'andimmediately bringing it back to fitting engagement therewith. As is usual in honing operations, a light lubricantv as kerosene or other suitable fluid, is flooded bout the nose of'the honing stone during a honing operation to prevent overheating, and wash 'away excess abrasive and bond from the nose of the stone as the stone wears down as well as to provide a suitable paste or slurry between'the nose of this 7 stone and the raceway to furtheraid thehoning opera- Figure 5 shows another embodiment of my invention wherein a suitable agitator such as a mechanical or an electric vibrator acts to rapidly and longitudinally reciprocate a rod 142 through avery short distance." A crank 145. secured to a shaft-92 is urgedthrough a spring 147 against. the end of the rod 142. "The outer 1. ,end ofthe spring 147issupported in any. suitable manner. 7 Ifdesired, this spring may be adjustably mounted in the same manner as described and illustrated with respect to the spring 120. The clockwise movement of the lever 145 as viewed in Figure 5 is dampened and cushioned by a suitably supported felt pad 150.; The

controlled rocking jmovemenf of the 145 imparts a regulated rocking movemen to theshaft 92 and an'arcuate honemovement 'in the mannerpreviousy de cr e; I l i ing the-workpiece about an axis concentric with the surface of revolution, applying a hone against the surface of revolution, and arcuately oscillating the honek circurnferentially of the work piece and about an axis spaced frotngthei-axis'sof work piece rotation to provide a changing pressure of the hone against the work piece.

2. The method'ofhoning' an'internal surface of revolution on'a' workpiece comprising the steps of rotating the work piece about an axis extending ,therethrough and concentric with said surface of revolution, applying a hone under yielding pressure against said rotating surface of revolution, and arcuately oscillating the hone about an axis within the work piece and in spaced parallel relation to the axis of work piece rotation, to intermittently relieve the pressure of the hone against the rotating work piece.

3. The method of honing an internal surface of revolution on a work piece comprising the steps of rotating the work piece about an axis concentric with the surface of revolution, applying a hone under predetermined yieldable pressure against said rotating surface of revolution, and arcuately oscillating the hone against said surface of revolution and about an axis located between the work piece axis and the zone being honed to periodically change the pressure of the hone against the work piece,

4. The method of honing a transversely arcuate annular raceway within an annular race ring comprising the steps of rotating the raceway about a central axis concentric with the raceway, applying a honing member against the rotating raceway, arcuately oscillating the honing member in the plane of the raceway and about an axis above and laterally offset from the axis of the race ring to intermittently change the honing pressure, and yieldably urging the hone against the raceway during said arcuate oscillation.

5. In a honing machine for finishing a surface of revolution within a work piece rotated about a fixed axis concentric with said surface, a honing member having a curved portion engageable with said surface, means yieldably locating the curved portion of the honing member in engagement with said surface of revolution, and agitating mechanism for arcuately oscillating the honing member about an axis extending through the work piece between the surface being honed and the axis of work piece rotation.

'6. In a honing machine for finishing a surface of revolution on a work piece rotated about a fixed axis, a honing member having a rounded end engageable with and generally conforming to the curvature of said surface, means yieldably urging the honing member against said surface, and mechanism for arcuately oscillating the honing member through a predetermined adjustable extent in engagement with said surface and about an axis offset from and parallel to the axis of work piece rotation whereby the honing member will yieldably engage the work piece under a periodically changing pressure.

7. In a honing machine for finishing an internal surface of revolution on a work piece rotated about a fixed axis, a honing member having a rounded end for abrading engagement with said surface, mechanism for shifting the honing member axially into and out of the Work piece towards and from a predetermined plane normal to said axis and through the work piece, feeding mechanism shifting the honing member radially of the work piece within said plane into and out of yieldable engagement with the work, an agitator for arcuately oscillating the honing member within the work piece in a direction circumferentially of said surface of revolution and means to adjust the extent of said oscillation.

8. In a honing machine for finishing an annular transversely curved racewaywithin a race ring rotated about the axisof the raceway, :a honing member having a sure against the raceway.

rounded endconforminglyengageablewiththe raceway,

means presenting and yieldably locating the honing member against the raceway under predetermined pressure, a rotatable support for the honing member, said support being provided with an :axis of rotation generally. parallel to and laterally spaced from the race ring axis, an'agitator secured to the support for oscillating the support through a partial rotation, and mechanismconnectedto the agitator for regulating the angular extent ofsaidoscillation whereby the honing member will be arcuately'oscillated in the plane of the racewaywitha-periodicyarying pres- 9. In a-honing machine for finishingnan- -internalsurface of revolution on a work piece rotated about a fixed axis, a honing member having a rounded abrading end matingly engageable with said surface, mechanism feeding the honing member into and out of the work piece towards and from a predetermined position adjacent the surface to be finished, feeding mechanism shifting the honing member generally radially of the work piece and into and out of yieldable work piece engagement, an agitator, tiltably mounted about an axis laterally offset from the work piece axis to arcuately oscillate the honing member in a direction circumferentially of the surface of revolution, and yieldable means on said agitator to regulate the extent of said oscillation.

10. In a honing machine for finishing a'surface of revolution on a work piece rotated about a fixed axis, a honing member having a rounded abrading end engageable with said surface, a carriage, a rotatable shaft supported by the carriage, a honing head on the shaft supporting the honing member, a tiltable agitator block secured to the shaft, an agitator connected to said block and arranged to rock the shaft with a controlled movement for arcuately oscillating the honing member in a direction circumferentially of said surface, means. to yieldably feed the carriage transversely to locate the honing member in yieldable engagement with said surface, and carriage feeding mechanism for positioning the honing member axially of the work piece.

11. In a honing machine for finishing an annular raceway within a race ring rotated about its axis, a honing member having a rounded abrading end engageable with said raceway, a carriage, a rock shaft journalled in the carriage and having an axis of rotation generally parallel to and offset from the race ring axis, a honing member support on said shaft, fluid pressure actuated carriage feeding mechanism to present and hold the hone against the raceway, rocking mechanism secured to the shaft and engageable with the carriage, and adjustable resilient means between the rocking mechanism and said carriage.

12. In a honing machine for finishing an annular raceway within a race ring rotated about an axis concentric with the raceway, a honing member having a rounded abrading end engageable with the raceway, feeding mechanism for moving the honing member axially of the race ring, a carriage supported by the feeding mechanism,

a rock shaft journa-lled in the carriage and having an axis of rotation generally parallel to and laterally ofiset from the race ring axis, a honing member support fastened to the shaft, gas operated mechanism for feeding the carriage to present and resiliently locate the honing member against the raceway, an agitator for rocking the shaft and adjustable resilient means on the carriage to regulate the extent of shaft rocking movement.

13. In a honing machine for finishing an annular raceway within a race ring rotated about an axis concentric with the raceway, a honing member engageable with the raceway, air operated feeding mechanism for rapidly moving the honing member towards and from the race- Way, a throttle valve in the feeding mechanism responsive to the position of the honing member causing the rapid infeed of the honing member to change to a slow regulating feed and gently present the hone against the raceway under predetermined yieldable pressure, and

means to arcuately roclcthe hone'circum ferentially of "'the'raceway through a controlledextentr -14.-In a honing machine for finishing an annular raceway within arace'r'ing rotated about an axis concentric with the raceway, a honehaving a rounded end en'gage- "able with the raceway, feeding mechanism for traversing thehone axially of the race ring, a carriage supported by thefeeding mechanism, a'rock shaft journalled in the -carriage and-having-an axis offset from and parallel to the race ring axis, a hone support secured to the shaft, and air piston'and cylinder for feeding the carriage to move the hone into and from operative position, a throttle "valve connected to said cylinder, and'carriage operated means for actuating the throttle valve to reduce the final raceway.

References Cited in the fileof this patent V UNITED STATES TE TS 

